He announced that the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Koffi Annan, had appointed Ms. Maria Nolan (United Kingdom) as Chief Officer of the Multilateral Fund, to succeed as successor to Mr. Omar El--Arini. Ms. Nolan was expected to take up her position early in 2004.
A continuación se planteó un debate sobre si se utilizaría la nueva escala para las contribuciones de 2004, o si se seguiría utilizando la escala anterior, correspondiente a 2001-2003.